better
light a candle than curse the darkness

OUR
JOURNEY TO THE DAY OF RESURRECTION, PART-VIII
By Gheyas S Mahfoz Hashmi, Jeddah (hgheyas@albatool.com.sa) … Continued from previous
issue.In previous issue the scene of
Qiyamat was presented. Now we start next stage, i.e. Shafayat Kubra
(Grand Mediation).

The
Paradise will be near to the believers. They will be inpatient to see
the beauties of Paradise. Hence, they will go to the Messengers for
mediation with Allah to get Jannah. Similarly, the distressed people
will
be in search of a person who will mediate with Allah so that the
proceeding of Hisab wa Kitab (Accountability & Judgement)
should be started. Both will be in hurry to have Hisab & Kitab
fast, but the difference is that Mumin (believers) would like to have
their award (Jannah) as soon as possible in place of good deeds they
did in this world, and the distressed people would like to see
judgement
of their fate, whatsoever it is, as soon as possible, as their waiting
period is tiresome for them. In order to understand this situation we
should take an example of the one who appears, here, in an examination,
and both
kind of examinees (who did well and who did not do well) await results
to be declared as soon as possible.
The place “Moqam Mahmoud” is reserved for our prophet (S). It
is the highest place in Paradise, for which we pray after every Aazan
(After-Aazan Dua). The time other messengers will apologize in Mahshar,
only our prophet (S) will be honoured to have the mediation. Its
description in a long Hadith (Bukhari & Muslim) at the
authority of Abu Hurairah is mentioned. It can be briefed as follows [Sahih
Al-Bukhari, Vol. 6, Hadith No. 3]:

Narrated Anas Radi Allaho Anhu: The Prophet (saaws) said, "On the Day of Resurrection the
believers will assemble and say, 'Let us ask somebody to intercede for
us with our Lord.' So they will go to Adam and say, 'You are the father
of all the people, and Allah created you with His Own Hands, and
ordered the angels to prostrate to you, and taught you the names of all
things; so please intercede for us with your Lord, so that He may
relieve us from this place of ours.'Adam will say, 'I
am not fit for this (i.e. intercession for you).' Then Adam will
remember his sin and feel ashamed thereof. He will say, 'Go to Noah,
for he was the first Messenger Allah sent to the inhabitants of the
earth.'They will go to
him and Noah will say, 'I am not fit for this undertaking.' He will
remember his appeal to his Lord to do something of which he had no
knowledge, then he will feel ashamed thereof and will say, 'Go to
Khalil-ur-Rahman* (i.e. Abraham). They will go to him and he will say,
'I am not fit for this undertaking. Go to Moses, the slave to whom
Allah spoke (directly) and gave him the Torah.'So they will go to
him and he will say, 'I am not fit for this undertaking,' and he will
mention (his) killing a person who was not a killer, and so he will
feel ashamed thereof before his Lord, and he will say, 'Go to Jesus,
Allah's slave, His Messenger and Allah's Word and a spirit coming from
Him**.Jesus will say, 'I
am not fit for this undertaking, go to Muhammad the slave of Allah
whose past and future sins were forgiven by Allah.' So they will come
to me and I will proceed till I ask my Lord's Permission and I will be
given permission.When I see my
Lord, I will fall down in prostration and He will let me remain in that
state as long as He wishes and then I will be addressed, '(Muhammad!)
Raise your head. Ask, and your request will be granted; say, and your
saying will be listened to; intercede, and your intercession will be
accepted.' I will raise my head and praise Allah with a saying (i.e.
invocation) He will teach me, and then I will intercede. He will fix a
limit for me (to intercede) whom I will admit into Paradise. Then I
will come back again to Allah, and when I see my Lord, the same thing
will happen to me. And then I will intercede and Allah will fix a limit
for me (to intercede) whom I will admit into Paradise, then I will come
back for the third time; and then I will come back for the fourth time,
and will say, 'None remains in Hell but those whom the Qur'an has
imprisoned in Hell' refers to the Statement of Allah: "To abide therein
forever."

Indeed, they will be fortunate enough who are allowed to go to Jannah
without Hisab. Let us work and pray that we should be among those being
entered Jannah without Hisab......
to be continued, insha-Allah

London: A pioneering blood
test that could allow pregnant women know the sex of their unborn child
as early as five weeks has been developed, but scientists have warned
that it has potential for promoting sex-selection.
A team led by Dr Hyun Mee Ryu at Cheil General Hospital in Seoul, South
Korea, found that various ratios of two enzymes which can be extracted
from a pregnant mother’s blood indicate the baby’s gender as early as
five or six weeks.
Knowing the sex early, the scientists said, is important if the mother
is a carrier of an X-chromosome gene that can cause a disease like
muscular dystrophy or hemophilia. They said that female fetuses are
either free from the disease or are carriers, but a male has a 50%
chance of inheriting the disease and parents may choose to abort the
pregnancy, the Daily Mail reported.
However, this method “might promote the potential for sex selection.
Therefore, there should be careful consideration about the use of this
analytical tool in clinical situations”, the scientists warned.
Current ultrasounds can detect a baby’s sex at around five months,
while available invasive testing can work at 11 weeks. But these tests
carry a one to two per cent risk of miscarriage as they require a
sample from the amniotic sac that protects the fetus.
Writing in the The FASEB Journal, Dr Hyu said their test could “reduce
the need for invasive procedures in pregnant women carrying an X-linked
chromosomal abnormality and clarify inconclusive readings by
ultrasound.”
For their study, the team collected maternal plasma from 203 women
during the first trimester of their pregnancies between 2008 and 2009.
They were able to accurately detect the gender of the baby from as
early as five weeks by measuring the ratio of the amount of the enzymes
— DYS14 and GAPDH — in the blood plasma.
“Although more work must be done before such a test is widely
available, this paper does show it is possible to predict the sex of a
child as early as the first few weeks after conception," said Dr Gerald
Weissmann, editor-in-chief of the journal which published the study.
.... PTI [http://bit.ly/xQVOM8]
Antioxidant-rich foods prevent heart diseases

Eating broccoli, apples and berries can also help in the management of diabetes.

People
who eat a diet rich in foods containing powerful antioxidants not only
lower their risk of developing heart disease, but can slash their
cholesterol and even get diabetes under control, suggest experts. The
secret lies in a regular dose of potent, health giving foods rich in
antioxidants called flavonoids. They are found in abundance in
plant-based foods with onions, apples, berries, kale, and broccoli
having highest concentration. They are also found in high amounts in
tea, berries, chocolate and even red wine. They
work by fighting harmful molecules accumulating in the body that damage
healthy cells. A 12-month trial carried out by scientists at the
University of East Anglia found that diets high in these flavonoids
could reduce the risk of heart disease for women with Type 2 diabetes.
The new study also found out that regularly eating flavonoid-rich foods
could also help in the management of diabetes. The
study looked at 93 postmenopausal women with Type 2 diabetes from the
age of 51 to 74. Half were given two small bars of flavonoid-enriched
chocolate each day and half were given placebo chocolate bars. Those
receiving extra flavonoids reduced the risk of a heart attack by 3.4%.
Their insulin resistance and cholesterol levels were significantly
reduced by the flavonoids. ANI